The Black Box

Synopses & Reviews

Publisher Comments:

In a case that spans 20 years, Harry Bosch links the bullet from a recent crime to a file from 1992, the killing of a young female photographer during the L.A. riots. Harry originally investigated the murder, but it was then handed off to the Riot Crimes Task Force and never solved.

Now Bosch's ballistics match indicates that her death was not random violence, but something more personal, and connected to a deeper intrigue. Like an investigator combing through the wreckage after a plane crash, Bosch searches for the black box, the one piece of evidence that will pull the case together.

Riveting and relentlessly paced, The Black Box leads Harry Bosch, one of the greats of crime fiction (New York Daily News), into one of his most fraught and perilous cases.

Review:

"Bestseller Connelly's excellent 18th Harry Bosch novel (after 2011's The Drop) opens in 1992, a few days after the acquittal of the cops who beat up Rodney King incited an eruption of violence in Los Angeles ('Flames from a thousand fires reflected like the devil dancing in the dark sky'). In a South-Central alley, Bosch and his partner, Jerry Edgar, briefly examine the body of a Danish photojournalist, Anneke Jespersen, who's been shot dead. There's not enough time or police will power to enable Bosch to pursue the case — though he does retrieve a single spent 9mm brass shell casing. Twenty years later, while working cold cases in the LAPD's Open-Unsolved Unit, Bosch gets a second chance to answer for Jespersen. Contemporary forensic technology connects the shell casing to a gun and to the first Iraq war. The tenacious detective finds himself caught in a maelstrom of departmental politics and personal danger as he searches for the 'black box' of the title ('a piece of evidence, a person, a positioning of fact that brought a certain understanding and helped explain what happened and why'). Connelly draws on all his resources — his thorough knowledge of police work, his ability to fashion a complex tapestry of plot, and his ever deepening characterization of Bosch — to craft a mystery thriller sure to enthrall fans and newcomers alike. Agent: Philip Spitzer, Philip G. Spitzer Literary." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

Review:

"I decided several years ago that this is the finest crime series written by an American, and nothing in the new book changes my mind." The Washington Post

Review:

Review:

"Four stars! Crime writer Michael Connelly is a reliably good storyteller and his novels' endings invariably pack a satisfying punch. Though I've said it before about some of his other novels, The Black Box [could] be the best yet...portrays Harry at his dogged, ingenious best." USA Today

Review:

"Few crime writers are as prolific or as successful as Michael Connelly....Connelly has always excelled at building suspense while paying careful attention to police procedural detail...will tantalize fans of the series." Los Angeles Times

Review:

"Bosch employs highly unorthodox but extremely entertaining methods for getting results, making sneaky end-runs around the sclerotic bureaucracy of the LAPD....It's fun to watch an old war horse like Bosch navigating the new technology (or, more often than not, getting younger officers to do it for him)." New York Times Book Review

Review:

"Connelly has added one more to the apparently inexhaustible supply of cases that challenge Detective Harry Bosch of the Los Angeles Police Department. This one is a tightly knit tale....It's classic Connelly, who has a gift for narrating criminal investigations from the inside and bringing them to life." San Jose Mercury News

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About the Author

Michael Connelly is the author of the recent #1 New York Times bestsellers The Drop, The Fifth Witness, The Reversal, The Scarecrow, The Brass Verdict, and The Lincoln Lawyer, as well as the bestselling Harry Bosch series of novels. He is a former newspaper reporter who has won numerous awards for his journalism and his novels. He spends his time in California and Florida.

Average customer rating based on 2 comments:

WongKaiWen, December 25, 2012 (view all comments by WongKaiWen)
Connelly has fashioned a seamless but intricate puzzle of a book, and it hits the right notes consistently. From that tiny thread of evidence, he weaves a consistently intriguing tapestry of character, narrative and observation. At first glance, the book is a classic procedural, but Connelly's gift as a storyteller (if you like his work, you'll inhale this in a few big, deep draughts--and be sorry when it's over) enables "The Black Box" to transcend the notion of a genre novel. It is unmistakably great and undeniably compelling. It is also written with a dark and poetic sensibility, which will be familiar to Connelly's fans but seems to me even more distinctive and powerful in this book. Highly recommended.

"Publishers Weekly Review"
by Publishers Weekly,
"Bestseller Connelly's excellent 18th Harry Bosch novel (after 2011's The Drop) opens in 1992, a few days after the acquittal of the cops who beat up Rodney King incited an eruption of violence in Los Angeles ('Flames from a thousand fires reflected like the devil dancing in the dark sky'). In a South-Central alley, Bosch and his partner, Jerry Edgar, briefly examine the body of a Danish photojournalist, Anneke Jespersen, who's been shot dead. There's not enough time or police will power to enable Bosch to pursue the case — though he does retrieve a single spent 9mm brass shell casing. Twenty years later, while working cold cases in the LAPD's Open-Unsolved Unit, Bosch gets a second chance to answer for Jespersen. Contemporary forensic technology connects the shell casing to a gun and to the first Iraq war. The tenacious detective finds himself caught in a maelstrom of departmental politics and personal danger as he searches for the 'black box' of the title ('a piece of evidence, a person, a positioning of fact that brought a certain understanding and helped explain what happened and why'). Connelly draws on all his resources — his thorough knowledge of police work, his ability to fashion a complex tapestry of plot, and his ever deepening characterization of Bosch — to craft a mystery thriller sure to enthrall fans and newcomers alike. Agent: Philip Spitzer, Philip G. Spitzer Literary." Publishers Weekly (Starred Review) Copyright PWxyz, LLC. All rights reserved.

"Review"
by The Washington Post,
"I decided several years ago that this is the finest crime series written by an American, and nothing in the new book changes my mind."

"Review"
by Chicago Sun-Times,
"Continues [Connelly's] streak of telling stellar crime stories...one of the top detectives in crime fiction."

"Review"
by USA Today,
"Four stars! Crime writer Michael Connelly is a reliably good storyteller and his novels' endings invariably pack a satisfying punch. Though I've said it before about some of his other novels, The Black Box [could] be the best yet...portrays Harry at his dogged, ingenious best."

"Review"
by Los Angeles Times,
"Few crime writers are as prolific or as successful as Michael Connelly....Connelly has always excelled at building suspense while paying careful attention to police procedural detail...will tantalize fans of the series."

"Review"
by New York Times Book Review,
"Bosch employs highly unorthodox but extremely entertaining methods for getting results, making sneaky end-runs around the sclerotic bureaucracy of the LAPD....It's fun to watch an old war horse like Bosch navigating the new technology (or, more often than not, getting younger officers to do it for him)."

"Review"
by San Jose Mercury News,
"Connelly has added one more to the apparently inexhaustible supply of cases that challenge Detective Harry Bosch of the Los Angeles Police Department. This one is a tightly knit tale....It's classic Connelly, who has a gift for narrating criminal investigations from the inside and bringing them to life."

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